Adding limestone fines to reduce heat generation of curing concrete

Abstract

It is well known that the heat generation of curing concrete may be reduced by decreasing the cement paste volume of the concrete. However, as the cement paste must be more than sufficient to fill the voids between aggregate particles, the cement paste volume should not be limitlessly decreased. Herein, it is proposed to add an inert filler, such as limestone fines, to fill into the voids between aggregate particles so that a smaller cement paste volume may be used and the heat generation of the concrete may be further reduced. To study the effectiveness of adding limestone fines in reducing the heat generation of curing concrete, a series of concrete mixes with water/cement ratios ranging from 0.35 to 0.60 and different amounts of limestone fines added were tested for their workability, strength and heat generation. The results revealed that the addition of limestone fines to decrease the cement paste volume would significantly increase the strength and, more importantly, substantially reduce the heat generation of the concrete.